Context: I haven't played much Classicvania... if any. All the experience I can recall is playing Bloodlines way back when I was younger, and even then, I sucked at games so I didn't get far.

But never mind that; even without having the context of the games that inspired this, Bloodstained COTM is a short and sweet, but challenging platformer. You can easily breeze through a playthrough in about two hours if you know what you're doing - but even if you don't, every challenge the game puts in front of you feels deliberate and thought-out in a way I don't really think about with other games. The restrictive movement contributes to a game that can sometimes feel like a puzzle game: you solve problems not necessarily by thinking fast, but by thinking carefully.

Another thing that I really like about this game is the variety of ways in which it can be played. Though actual modes are few and far between - you have a few different campaigns and a boss rush, but that's it - each of the first three stages contains a new character that you can choose to either recruit (and gain the ability to switch to them at any time), kill (and gain a new ability for the MC, Zangetsu), or ignore (and gain nothing - in case you just want to make the game harder). As each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, the decisions you make in these first few stages can significantly change how the rest of the game is played; some routes can only be taken with certain characters, some upgrades can only be obtained with certain abilities, and the abilities afforded by each character can also increase - or decrease - your options in approaching almost any challenge.

That feature alone adds so much replay value to the game, even with its lack of modes, to the point that I occasionally go back to it to do a quick run through, just because I can. For that, Bloodstained COTM has become another one of my favorite games of all time. Even if you're new to the Classicvania genre - I was, too - I still recommend it.

Context: I haven't played much Classicvania... if any. All the experience I can recall is playing Bloodlines way back when I was younger, and even then, I sucked at games so I didn't get far. But never mind that; even without having the context of the games that inspired this, Bloodstained COTM is a short and sweet, but challenging platformer. You can easily breeze through a playthrough in about two hours if you know what you're doing - but even if you don't, every challenge the game puts in front of you feels deliberate and thought-out in a way I don't really think about with other games. The restrictive movement contributes to a game that can sometimes feel like a puzzle game: you solve problems not necessarily by thinking fast, but by thinking carefully. Another thing that I really like about this game is the variety of ways in which it can be played. Though actual modes are few and far between - you have a few different campaigns and a boss rush, but that's it - each of the first three stages contains a new character that you can choose to either recruit (and gain the ability to switch to them at any time), kill (and gain a new ability for the MC, Zangetsu), or ignore (and gain nothing - in case you just want to make the game harder). As each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, the decisions you make in these first few stages can significantly change how the rest of the game is played; some routes can only be taken with certain characters, some upgrades can only be obtained with certain abilities, and the abilities afforded by each character can also increase - or decrease - your options in approaching almost any challenge. That feature alone adds so much replay value to the game, even with its lack of modes, to the point that I occasionally go back to it to do a quick run through, just because I can. For that, Bloodstained COTM has become another one of my favorite games of all time. Even if you're new to the Classicvania genre - I was, too - I still recommend it.